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The methodological implications of “studying up” in Pakistan

Rosita Armytage

Based on ethnographic research conducted with the wealthiest and most
powerful business owners and politicians in urban Pakistan from 2013 to 2015, this
article examines the particular set of epistemological and interpersonal issues that
arise when studying elite actors. In politically unstable contexts like Pakistan, the
relationship between the researcher and the elite reveals shifting power dynamics
of class, gender, and national background, which are further complicated by the
prevalence of rumor and the exceptional ability of elite informants to obscure that
which they would prefer remain hidden. Specifically, this article argues that the researcher’s
positionality, and the inversion of traditional power dynamics between
the researcher and the researched, can ameliorate, as well as exacerbate, the challenges
of undertaking participant observation with society’s most powerful.